Snap button



'May 15,'1923.

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Patented ay 15, 1923.,

MAURICE J'l BAER, OF ATTLEBORO, li/SEACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE BAER & WILDE oreiro,

COMPANY, OF ATTLEBORO, MASSACI'IUSETTS, A COREORATION OF EASSACHUSETTS.

SNAJ? BUTTON.

Application filed. January 19, 1922.

To all 'whom it maiylconcer'n Be it known that I, MAURIGE J. BAER, citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Attleboro, in the county of Pristol 5 and State of Massachusetts, have invented new, and useful Improvements in Snap Buttons, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to snap buttons, particularly cuff buttons, of the type having` two members detachably connected together and' adapted to be held in the button holes respectively of a cufif or other article when detacheid from each other. In buttons of this type the detachable members customarily comprise sha-nks'respectively extending through the button holes of the separable parts of the culf or other article, the shanks 'having heads on their outer ends and fianges on their inner ends, the flanges serving to retain the members in their respective button holes when separated.

In the manufacture of buttons of this type it has been proposed to provide the abutting ends of the separable members respectively i With a stud and a socket to hold the parts together. In such buttons the aforesaid flanges are relatively thick and their juxtar posed faces are somewhat convex thus presenting a substantial crack therebetween. As a result of thelcombined thickness of the flanges and the cracktherebetween the buttons hold the ends of the cufi' too widely separated and present an unsightly appearance. As a result of the convexity of the juxtaposed faces of the fianges the separable members have a tendency to vroll on these surfaces, the central stud and socket not being 'adapted to prevent such relative motion without being made unduly large, and this rolling motion obviously tends to separate the members;` consequently the mombers frequently separate accidentally as when the Wrist presses outwardly toward the button or when the cuf'f is drawn inwardly toward the wrist.

It has also been proposed to make buttons of the aforesaid type in which one of the shanks is provided Witha broad shallow cup` having an inturned edge and in which the other vshank is provided with a disk adapted to seat in-the aforesaid cup and snap beneath. aa, inturn'ed edge; In` such a buttonther.

Serial No. 530,327.

is no crack between the two parts but in order for the inturned edge of the said cup to hold the said disk the combined aXial dimensions off-the cup and inturned edge is so great as to hold the ends of the cuff apart too widely and present an untidy appearance. Moreover, the method of holding the separable members together, involving a disk snapping behind an inturned edge at the periphery of a cup, has numerous disadvantages chief of which are the following. In such a construction it is practically impossible to provide a spring yieldingly to hold the separable members together and as a result therinturned edge must be relied upon for this purpose. nasmuch as such an edge possesses little resiliency it is difiicult to separate the parts when new and after a short period of use the parts separate too easily as a consequence of wear. t is therefore necessary to shape the parts very accurately to function properly when new and even when so shaped the useful life of the buttons is limited.

The objects of the present invention are to provide buttons of the aforesaid type which are free from the unsightliness of prior buttons, which are axially compactat the junction between the two shanks, which present the appearance of a single annulus at said junction, in which the' separable parts are free from the aforesaid rolling motion and the shanks are held rigidly in adjustment, in which the separable parts are held from movement transversely of each other by means other than the means for detachably holding the parts together whereby the latter means may be made smaller and more elastic to permit easy separation and to provide` Constant holding power throughout long' periods of usage, which has substantially all the advantages of the old forms of construction without their disadvantages, and which has in addition certain unique advantages as will be evident from this description 'and the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is an axial section of a button constituting one embodiment of the invention;

Figures 2 and 3 are side views of. the separable parts of the button; i

Fig e is a composite view showing one of the heads of the button in end and Side elevation respectively;

Fig. 5 1S a composite i'fiew showing one of the button Shanks with its cupped tlangeA in end and side elevation respectively;

Fig. 6 is a composite view showing the Stud member with its fiange in end and side elevation respectively; and

Fig. 7 is a composite view showing the Socket member in end and side elevation respeetively.

A button made according to the present invention is eharacterized in that the shanks of the Separable members are provided lon their inner ends with an interlitting Stud and socket connection disposed in the axis of the button and also with male and female annuli Surrounding the Stud and Socket connection in interfitting or nesting relation- Ship; the male annulus being on the Shank earrying Said Socket and the female annulus being on the Shank carrying the aforesaid Stud, in vthe preferred construction, so that each shank has yboth a male and a female part. By making the male annulus hollow' it may serve as a housing for a detent adapted to engage the aforesaid Stud and hold it in its socket, the detent preferably being in the form of a Spring operative upon the Stud through an opening in the side of the socket.V Said annuli can best be made in the form of flanges on the inner ends of the Shank, one fiange being cupped to receive the other flange, and the Stud and Socket portions 'are preferably mounted on the Shanks by means of fianges seeured to the Shank flanges. By making the Shanks hollow, or at least the Shank carrying the Socket, the Stud may be confined within the Shank or shanks thereby decreasing the Size of the button in the region of its Separable connection. In the preferred construction the hollow annuluS for the detent is formed in part by the flange on the Shank and iii part by the Socket flange, the two fianges being j oined together preferably at the outer periphery of the annulus. i

The particular embodiment of the invention shown in the accompanying drawings comprises the two separable parts A and B shown in Side elevation in Figs. 2 and 3 respectively, the Sectional View of Fig. 1 Showing the parts in interconnected relationship. The parts A and B comprise .heads 1 and 1' respectiif'ely upon which are ordinarily mounted4 ornamental caps not shown. The Shanks 2 and 2' are hollow and are secured to the heads 1 and 1I by crimp connections 3 and 3'. The inner ends of the shanks` 2 and 2' are turned outwardly to form fianges a audit, the flange 4 being cupped at 5. Figs. 1 and 2 Show the preferred Shape of the parts 1 and 2 before they are crimped together.

Thev "al Stud and socket connection comprises the Socket 6 having a flange 7 spaced from the fiange l' and hooked thereover at .its outer periphery as indicated at 7 in Fig. l. Thus the fianges i' and 7 form 'a hollow annulus adapted to receive the detent Spring 8 which yieldingly engages the head of the 01s VS on the 'opposite Stud thrbugh openintv sides of the socket 6. Fig. 7 Shows the Shape of the socket member before the flange 7 is criinped over.

T he Stud member, shown in end elevation in Fig. 6, comprises a rounded head 10, a Iedueed neck 11 and a baseflange 12 adapted to litinto the cupped fiange ll of the Stud member A. The Shape of the'neck 11. is such that the Spring 8 tends to pull the Stud into the Socket by its engagement with the Sloping portion of the neck, So that the parts are yieldingly held in 'close relation- Ship as shown in Fig. 1 at all times.

All of'the parts are preferably' made o Sheet metal Stamped and pressed to form; and the permanent connections, Such as 3 and 3/, the connection. between the flanges 4:' and 7, and the connection between fianges 4 and 12, may if desired be soldered or welded although the connections are Such that the parts are held together by Virture of their interlocking relationship;

As shown in Fig. 1' the tips of the edges of the flanges ft and 7 are beveled :off so that the appea-rance of the interfitting annuli (comprising fianges 4, 4' and' 7 is a single annular protuberance whose' outer periphery is smoothly rounded in cross- Sectional' Contour. VVhile the edge 5 of the female annulus may be turned inwardly Sufiiciently to snap over the male annulus when the parts are pressed together, it'is preferably Substantially tangent to the periphery of Said male annulus So` that the cuppedy flange 11 serves merely as a seat for the male annulus with the snap action confined wholly to the axial Stud and socket., By making vthe fianges 1, 7 and 12 Somewhat co'nVeX in croSS-Sectional contourthe aXial Stud 11 is positioned approximately centrally of the button with its redu'cedneck in the central transverse plane of the Spring 8.

Aswill be eviden't from the foregoing the sepa 1able parts are held tightly together' by virtue of the axial Stud :and Socket connection and the interlittinn' annuli. Surrounding the Stud and socket, the spring Scontributing to this result and at the same time eonstituting a yielding detent which permits easy Separation of the parts when a Straight pull is exerted on the Separable parts.

I claim: i

1. A snap button comprisingtwo separable members each havinga tubular Shank, said shanks having interfitting male and female fianges on their inner ends, and Stud and .socket parts confinedv within the `hollow shanks when'the separable members are' interconnected, said parts having fianges secured to' said male and female fianges re- Spectively.

2. A. Snap button coinprising two separable members each having a tubular shank, one of: the shanks having an exterior flange on its inner end, a socket part disposed axially of Said shank and having an exterior fiange connected to said flange, the other shank having an exterior fiange cupped to receive said flanges, and a Stud adapted to fit into Said Socket, Said Stud having an exterior flange secured tov said cupped flange.

8. A Snap button comprising two separable members each having a tubular shank,

one of the shanks having an exterior flange on its inner end, a socket part disposed axially of said shank and having an exterior flange connected to said fiange, the other Shank having an exterior fiange cupped to receive said fianges, and a stud adapted to fit into Said socket, said Stud having an exterior flange secured to said cupped fiange, Said first two flanges having a Space therebetween, and a detent mounted in said Space to engage said Stud When the members are interconnected.

Signed by me at Attleboro, Massachusetts,

this seventeenth day of January, 1922.

MAURICE J. BAER. 

